Cristiano Ronaldo says Al Nassr will only get stronger after he scored a late goal to keep alive his side’s King Salman Cup hopes, as Sadio Mane debuted for his new team.
Ronaldo, the Nassr captain, headed home Ghislain Konan's cross three minutes from time on Thursday night for the Riyadh side to draw 1-1 with Egypt’s Zamalek in their final Group C match.
Staring at defeat in Taif, Nassr were on the brink of an exit, but Ronaldo’s goal ensured they moved above Zamalek into second in the table to progress to the quarter-finals.
Runners-up in last season’s Saudi Pro League, Nassr will now face Morocco’s Raja Casablanca, the defending champions, in their last-eight encounter on Sunday.
Speaking after the match, Ronaldo said: “The match was difficult today, but we were able to achieve the important thing, which is qualifying.
"We will gradually improve, and the atmosphere within the team is very nice."
On Thursday, Nassr gave a debut to latest signing Mane, whose move from Bayern Munich was confirmed only two days back.
The former Liverpool forward, who joins at the club fellow summer recruits Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana and Alex Telles, was brought on at the beginning of the second half.
Keen to immediately make an impact, Mane went close to cancelling out Zizo’s 54th-minute penalty, but sent a close-range effort narrowly off target.
Posting on Instagram after the game, the Senegalese forward commented on a picture of him and Ronaldo embracing, saying: "Congrats on your goal big man. On to the next round. Thanks Al Nassr fans, the support was amazing."
Earlier on Thursday, UAE side Al Wahda lost 1-0 to Raja, but still had done enough to advance to the knockouts. Pitso Mosimane’s men face Riyadh’s Al Shabab on Sunday – Shabab pipped Nassr to the top of Group C – while the tie of the quarter-finals is undoubtedly the all-Saudi clash between domestic champions Al Ittihad and Al Hilal, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Al Sadd face Iraqi club Al Shorta in the other last-eight encounter, also on Saturday.
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Scoreline
UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia
UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’
Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’
Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)
ENGLAND%20SQUAD
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Victims%20of%20the%202018%20Parkland%20school%20shooting
%3Cp%3EAlyssa%20Alhadeff%2C%2014%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EScott%20Beigel%2C%2035%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMartin%20Duque%2C%2014%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ENicholas%20Dworet%2C%2017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAaron%20Feis%2C%2037%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJaime%20Guttenberg%2C%2014%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EChris%20Hixon%2C%2049%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ELuke%20Hoyer%2C%2015%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECara%20Loughran%2C%2014%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EGina%20Montalto%2C%2014%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJoaquin%20Oliver%2C%2017%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAlaina%20Petty%2C%2014%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMeadow%20Pollack%2C%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EHelena%20Ramsay%2C%2017%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAlex%20Schachter%2C%2014%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECarmen%20Schentrup%2C%2016%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPeter%20Wang%2C%2015%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
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Don't get fined
The UAE FTA requires following to be kept:
- Records of all supplies and imports of goods and services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents related to receiving goods or services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents issued
- Records of goods and services that have been disposed of or used for matters not related to business
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.